


There was so much in the air

by Natalia_lives



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: F/M, M/M, Season/Series 04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:21:50
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29388351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natalia_lives/pseuds/Natalia_lives
Summary: Not much after T'Pol's and Trip's visit to Vulcan and her marriage, life back aboard the Enterprise is a bit strained. T'Pol tries to talk with Trip but life and emotions are complicated, not just for vulcans, but for humans too.
Relationships: Malcolm Reed & T'Pol, Malcolm Reed/Charles "Trip" Tucker III, T'Pol/Charles "Trip" Tucker III
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	There was so much in the air

T’Pol’s shift ended a few minutes ago, the Beta shift science officer Lieutenant West was already at the bridge, patiently waiting for T’Pol to finish her work and gather her PADDs. Before leaving her station T’Pol pressed the comm: “Engineering, this is T’Pol, is Commander Tucker there?” She didn’t have to wait long. “This is engineering, no ma’am, he left about an hour ago. He said, he’ll be at the gym if anything comes up.” “Thank you.” She stood up and stepped aside. “The station is yours Lieutenant West.” He nodded silently but he was already lost in his tasks. While waiting for the lift to arrive T’Pol watched the bridge for a few minutes. Low humming, officers murmuring between each other, the running stars leaving a thin silver line behind them on the viewscreen. She stepped into the inside. “C deck.” She carefully stretched her neck to either side, while making a mental list of her task for the evening. The lift came to a halt and T’Pol headed to the main gym.

“Commander, are you looking for someone?” asked Ensign Lago, a member of T’Pol’s science team. She liked the ensign, given she was always punctual, worked fast and she was a genuinely curious soul. “Yes Ensign” T’Pol said warmly, with a restricted smile. “I’m looking for Commander Tucker, I was told he’d be here.” Lago looked around and shook her head. “No, he was here, but left with Lieutenant Reed about fifteen minutes ago.” T’Pol nodded. “Thank you.” Lago smiled then returned to her exercise.

T’Pol headed back to the lift. “E deck.” During the short ride she contemplated whether to go for Trip’s quarters or try Lieutenant Reed’s. She knew that the two spend a good amount of time together in their free time. Given the lieutenant quarters were closer to the lift, she stopped there first, and pushed the buzzer.

After waiting a few long second, she was about to chime again when the door opened. “Ohh, Commander.” It was Lieutenant Reed. T’Pol’s eyes ran over him, he probably just had a shower, hair still damp, he didn’t have any shirt on, and she could see a towel carelessly tossed onto the bed. She coughed a bit. “Lieutenant, I am sorry to disturb you, but by any chance, is Commander Tucker here?” But before he could answer, the engineer appeared from the water block, dressed only in sweatpants. “Commander T’Pol, good of you to come by.” He said in a weary voice.

Malcolm did not turn around or moved, he stood there motionless. He watched T’Pol attentively, he saw how her eyebrows twitched ever so slightly upon Trip’s comment. How she held herself slightly more tense than usual. He knew what happened on Vulcan not long ago, and he honestly had no idea what to think about it. Trip was his closest friend on the ship they spent way too much time together and slowly but surely started to understand each other. After their mission in the Expanse, he and T’Pol come to respect and value each other. He respected her as a commanding officer who had to make tough decisions in impossible situations, and she come to respect his knowledge, precision, and resilience as a tactical officer. The Expanse changed them in different ways.

Malcolm heard Trip’s soft footsteps on the floor, probably still barefoot, but then a sudden jolt of surprise run through him. He felt the other men’s arms encircle him from behind. Malcolm hoped his face doesn’t betray him too much, he stared at T’Pol. Her left eyebrow arched up significantly. Malcolm kept his breathing steady as he felt Trip hugging him from behind, pressing his naked chest to his naked back and slowly resting his head on his shoulder.

“So, Commander, what can we do for you? Would you like to come in?” Trip kept his voice forcedly light, but his stance was everything but inviting. He watched as T’Pol regained her usual neutral façade. “Commander, I came over to give you the statistics and analytics you asked earlier.” She extended her right hand with the PADD. Trip inspected her for a few seconds before peeling one hand off Malcolm to take the PADD from her. “Thank you, great help.” He didn’t even look at the document but brought back his arm around his friend. “But Commander, let me as you this.” There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “Why did you bother to bring it personally, you could have sent it via the computer, or it even could have waited till tomorrow.” Trip heard Malcolm’s sigh, but he stayed silent. “I got it got finished just before my shift has ended so I thought I brig it over on my way to my quarters.” She stopped for a moment. “Might have been a mistake.” Her voice was slightly quieter. “You seem to have picked up this habit lately.” Answered Trip in a same quiet manner. 

All three of them looked away into different directions. There was so much in the air but none of them said anything for a while.

“It would seem so.” Said T’Pol finally. Trip, who returned his gaze back to her, saw how she looked at Malcolm and the two nodded mutually, and how her gaze just slid over him before turning away and leaving.

He let go of Malcolm and stepped to the bed. He slumped down and throw the PADD next to him. He ran his hands through his hair and over his face. He could saw Malcolm moving around silently from one place to another, but he just stared at the floor, lost in thoughts. After a while, a hand with a glass appeared in his vision. Trip looked up, Malcolm was standing in front of him, smiling sadly. He took the glass, whiskey.

“You’re an idiot.” Malcolm said silently between two sips. “But she’s a fool too.” And he emptied his glass. Trip watched him then smiled sadly. “I guess you’re right Mal.” He took a sip. “You’re right.” Malcolm picked up the bottle form the table and stepped next to him, arching up an eyebrow. “Oh yes, I want another.” Malcolm shook his head and filled their glasses. They clicked their glasses and drank in companiable silence.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)


End file.
